


Delta (ON HOLD)

by toskanoir



Category: Sally Face (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Ambulances, Character Death, Dialogue Heavy, Doctors, Friends to Lovers, Graphic Violence, Hospital Setting, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Nurses, References to Canon, Slow Updates, Smut, medical AU, medical drama, nockfell is set in seattle in this universe, paramedics
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-26
Updated: 2019-01-31
Packaged: 2019-09-27 17:17:25
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 19,826
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17166041
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/toskanoir/pseuds/toskanoir
Summary: When you’re a healthcare professional, you put everything at risk: your social life, your sanity, and your love life. The only way to survive in emergency medicine is to leave all the horrible stuff at work and never bring them home at the end of the day.When Sal Fisher and Larry Johnson enter into each other’s lives at the start of their careers, it’s just a matter of time until something will come crashing down.Not everyone will make it.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> DISCLAIMER: I am not a medical professional nor educated in emergency responder terminology and healthcare legality. The content in this fic is mainly materials I've gathered from my own research and classes I've taken. I do not own the video game Sally Face and its characters.

“Base to 28 – you are now responding delta to an M.V.C. at the intersection of Greener and Morgan. Unconscious 22-year-old male was thrown out through the windshield with possible traumatic injuries to the head, neck, and spine – breathing is slow and shallow. 50-year-old male is sustaining a possible broken femur and lacerations to the face. Nockfell County Police is at the scene. Condition of the opposing vehicle is unknown at this time.”

There was barely time for a second to pass by between the ending of the call and the lights and whooping of the siren for the ambulance to switch on. Larry Johnson, a new addition to the team gripped the side of his seat as he felt the speed increase one-hundred-fold and the trees in his peripherals were now incomprehensible blurs. He kept control of his breathing and tried to keep a calm demeanor about him – focusing on the rain falling on the windshield and how it washed out the sight of the moon. A certain excitement rushed through his nerves as the speed and the lights and the siren all collided together to form a rush that Larry was growing accustomed to. He looked to his left at the driver: Herman Sanderson, a veteran paramedic that always radiated an eager, teacher vibe about him, then looked behind him to his other partner, who was just as excited as he was: Ashley Campbell, who met his gaze and gave him an awkward thumbs-up from the back of the ambulance.

Larry and Ash both comedically shared the same hair length. Larry could have chopped off his luscious man-locks but argued to keep them as they reminded him of his heavy-metal teenage years. Both wore a slicked-back ponytail held tightly with hair clips and hairbands to keep their long hair from getting in the way of their work. Ash, likewise to Larry, was a new addition to the team, as they both graduated from Paramedic school at the same time and had classes together. They shared a significant bond over their love for saving people and both acted as lifeboats and motivation in each other’s lives when they were just students.

Larry turned in his seat to face forward onto the dark, rainy road in front of them – knowing fully well that, even though Herman was trained to drive fast in extreme weather conditions, he was still scared shitless, and he wasn’t doing a very good job at hiding it.

“How you holdin’ up there, Lar?” Herman asked humorously.

“I’m doin’ peachy, chief,” Larry responded with a nervous chuckle, leaning back further into his seat.

“Tsk, I told you to stop callin’ me chief. We’re partners! No need to be so formal.”

The radio crackled, signaling another message from dispatch. “28 – just an update: there are two other patients from the opposing vehicle – a male and female estimated in their twenties. No pulse on either. Other units have been called to the scene.”

Herman picked up the radio. “ETA: three minutes.”

“Gee… doesn’t sound too good…” Ash commented from the back.

“I know. Get ready, newbies: you two are in for a treat tonight.”

When they arrived on the scene, it was as if Larry stepped right into a scene of an action movie: a body on the ground, a car flipped completely upside down, another vehicle was completely totaled – Larry had never seen anything like it in person. An officer approached them to give them the run-down of the victims. First, the older one was Paul Phelps and the unconscious male was his son, Travis Phelps. The other couple in the totaled car identities is unknown.

Herman stepped out of the ambulance and gave orders as soon as he landed onto the ground. “Ash, you go assess Paul while Larry and I assess Travis. If you run into any trouble, there are other units on the scene including police. Nockfell FD should be here to help with the flipped car, but in all honesty, those poor people aren’t going to make it… and I’m pretty sure the others feel the same way.”

“Got it, Herman.” Ash jogged her way to the older male, who was sitting on the ground holding his right leg that was already bandaged up by the other units. She knelt next to him and placed her bag to her side, opening it and taking out supplies as she spoke. “Hello, sir – my name is Ashley and I’m going to be taking care of you. Can you tell me where you’re hurting the most? Any neck pain, chest pain—”

“God will damn them to hell,” the man spoke delusional.

Ash was lost for words at the sudden, extreme statement. “E-…Excuse me?”

“God damns all who cause harm to his children!” he raised his voice.

“Sir, I’m gonna need you to calm down for me, okay?” she went to check the bandage around his right thigh and felt around. “Does this hurt—”

Before she could finish her question, the man cried out and slapped her hard across the face. Immediately, there was a harsh sting at the area and brought her hand up to aid it. This caught the attention of a nearby officer who rushed over and yanked the man’s arms behind his back.

“Whoa, whoa!” Ash confronted the officer. “Why are you moving him so messily?!”

“Ma’am, with all due respect, this man assaulted you and I’m preventing that from happening again,” the officer retorted.

“If you keep manhandling him like that, you’re going to further injure him, which means you’ll agitate him even more! I got this, officer, you can go.”

The officer then let go of the man’s arms and walked off, not happy with the way he was just spoken to.

“Keep his head and neck stable,” ordered Herman as he did a work-up on Travis’ C-spine. Larry was carefully holding his head and neck in his hands, so no further damage can be done to his spine. “It’s extremely likely little ol’ Travis here is gonna have a major concussion… maybe even temporary brain damage. Poor kid… alright, wait here, I’m gonna get the collar, backboard, and stretcher from the van.”

The night was progressively getting colder as the rain showed no signs of letting up, leaving the emergency responders and the patients drenched and freezing. Larry looked down at the male in his lap, examining the blood coming from his head and other portions of his body and being washed down the street. The patient’s blond hair was starting to stain with red and he couldn’t even imagine how much pain he would be in if he were conscious. Herman came back with a collar and the backboard and stretcher, getting into position to move the male.

“Okay, Lar, on my count: One, two, three.” Being as careful as possible, the two moved the patient onto the backboard and began strapping him. “Collar him.”

“Yessir.”

Ash finished her work-up and her patient was quickly transported to another ambulance to fix a possible fracture of his right femur. She returned to her team just as they were loading the other patient into the back of their van and quickly went to work. There was a lot of damage at the scene of the accident and a lot had to be cleaned up, but time was up the essence and they had to transport the male to a hospital and  _fast_.

“Alright, hook him up to the heart monitor,” Herman ordered. “His pulse is weak but it’s there. He hasn’t shown any signs of consciousness since we arrived. Larry, Ash: I’m gonna leave you two up to take care of him because I gotta drive us and haul ass to St. Joseph’s, okay?”

“Yes, sir.” They both responded and immediately went to work – hooking the patient up to the monitor and recording his vitals.

“B.P. is low,” Ash stated. “He’s bleeding but I can’t see where. Larry, check his stomach.”

Larry pulled up the male’s shirt and gaped at the sight of the massive bruise covering the entirety of his abdomen. “Holy shit. He’s bleeding internally. Might also have a few broken ribs.”

“Shit. He’s really not doing well.” The heart monitor then started to beep erratically. “He’s bradycardic! SATS dropping rapidly.”

“Pushing epi,” Larry announced as he entered the fluid into the man’s I.V. The monitor remained the same. “No change.”

“Push more!” demanded Ash, but before Larry could anything else, he flatlined.

“No heartbeat!” Ash grabbed the defibrillator off the monitor and Larry raced to go charge.

“Charging to 100!” The machine whined and Ash pressed the paddles to his chest.

“Clear!” The patient’s body bounced at the impact of the shock, but there was no change in his sinus rhythm. “Larry, charge to 150.”

“Charging to 150.”

The machine whined once more and Ash pressed the paddles back to his chest. “Clear!”

Finally, his heartbeat was back to normal and both sighed of relief.

“He’s a fighter,” Larry stated and they both went back to work, giving him fluids and redressing the wounds on his body. It wasn’t that much longer when they finally arrived at the St. Joseph E.R. and they brought the patient inside to triage.

“Unconscious 22-year-old male with internal bleeding, possible inner costal fractures, and possible injuries to the head and neck,” Ash announced. “He was given epi and flatlined en route but was defibrillated back to normal sinus rhythm. B.P. is below average and breathing is shallow.” Larry and Ash were at both sides of the stretcher when they rushed him in and was met by an Emergency Medicine resident dressed in a yellow trauma gown who quickly triaged the patient to a bed.

“Someone get me a portable X-ray and ultrasound.” The doctor, who was only a first-year resident, sounded panicked yet sure. “Page neuro and ortho down here! Get an attending–“

The patient flatlined again.

“Shit. Starting compressions! Nurse Fisher!”

From the further side of the pit, Sal Fisher, a new E.R. nurse, looked up from the patient he was working on and rushed to Dr. Todd Morrison’s side. “Yes, doctor?”

“I’m calling down to get an O.R. ready. Take over for me for compressions.”

“Yes, doctor!” Sal climbed onto the bed and straddled the patient as he started performing CPR. The team quickly started taking the bed up to surgery, and Larry watched on admirably as he observed the beautiful yet chaotic performance of the E.R. team. He felt as if, at that moment, he wanted to stay and observe them, but sadly, his work there was done. He jumped at the feeling of a hand on his shoulder. He looked to see Herman grinning down at him.

“You did good tonight,” Herman said. “Now we let the professionals take care of it.”

“Wait, but. . . we’re professionals as well, right?” Larry felt a little insulted at the statement.

“Well, yeah, but, we’re not _that_ professional.”

“...Okay, Herman.”

Ash came to his side and smiled at the two of her partners. In the light, they saw a welt forming on the area where she got slapped earlier that night.

“You gonna press charges?” Larry asked, pointing to her cheek.

“Huh?” Ash brought her hand up and felt the bump, sighing. “Nah, I’m not. He was probably mentally troubled anyway. No big deal.”

“You’re a tough cookie,” Herman commented, slapping her jacketed-shoulder. “We should wait here. The police are going to be here any minute. Let’s sit somewhere.”

Meanwhile, at the surgical department, Sal was still performing CPR on Travis Phelps as they rushed out the elevator. Sal was starting to feel his arms wobble with exhaustion but he refused to stop unless someone else wanted to take over. He looked down at the man’s face which was covered with road-rash and blood, begging for at least an eye-flutter or a small gasp. However, there was an overwhelming rush of familiarity when he continued to study the patient’s face as if he had seen him before years ago.

“Will someone _please_ get that damn nurse off my patient?!” A sudden, booming voice came after the E.R. team that made them all freeze. “Travis Phelps is internally bleeding, not breathing, and has inner costal fractures and you’re doing compressions _and_ taking him up to surgery?!”

_Travis_?!

Todd tried to defend themselves. “Sir, with all due respect, this was a very urgent–“

“I don’t care!” The surgeon cut off Todd’s retort. “Someone get Michael Myers off my patient so I can take him into my care and actually give him a chance at life. Move!”

Sal jumped off the patient and awkwardly stood there alongside his team as their patient was taken into the hands of another department. He took a moment to gather up all the information that was thrown at him at once to extract an answer to his familiarity. He went back downstairs to the E.R., replaying the comments that were made about him and the man that was taken off into surgery. He was frustrated to death - as it’s been months and he hasn’t gone a day without a patient or a coworker making inappropriate comments about his prosthetic. He should say something, he thought, but who would listen to a nurse?

“ _Damn surgical attendings,_ ” Todd mumbled angrily under his breath, taking the stairs instead.

Back down in the pit, the police were already talking to the paramedic team, but Larry’s focus was quickly shifted when he saw the nurse from earlier enter the area.

Sal reached up and played with his blue bun that sat on top of his head as he fidgeted to stay calm and not let the ignorance of the surgeons get to him. When he looked up, he saw one of the paramedics who came in with Travis come up to him. What could he possibly want with me? He thought. Probably going to ask him about his prosthetic, as always, but he was immediately struck with surprise when he was met with something different.

“You holdin’ up?” Larry asked, casually.

“Uh, y-yeah. . . I am. It’s just been a long day.” Sal responded with a chuckle.

“Workin’ twelves?”

“Three times a week. At least it’s the day shift.”

“Yeah, not for me. My shift just got started.”

“Nothing like a good ol’ M.V.C. to start the night, right?”

“Heh, yeah. . .” Awkward pause. “Um, my team is over there talking to the police. The older man is Herman and the woman is Ashley – I call her Ash for short. I’m Larry.” He held out his hand for a handshake.

“I’m Sal,” he smiled, even though his prosthetic covered it up so it sort of defeated the purpose. They shook hands and Larry put his hands in the pocket of his jacket.

“Yeah, I’m a bit of a newbie to the job. I just graduated a few months ago. I like it so far, though. Very fulfilling.”

“Oh, cool! I’m a newbie, too, heh. Passed my NCLEX on the first try so I got my RN license earlier than the majority of my class. I’m very happy with the job so far. Working in trauma was my top specialty.”

They both knew that the conversation was nothing short of awkward, as they were strangers meeting under awkward circumstances.

“I, uh. . .” Larry buried his hands further into his pocket. “I hope to stop by this hospital more often! I mean, this is the closest one to base, so. . . I’ll see ya, yeah. . .” he flashed a smile, and Sal giggled.

“I definitely hope to see you. I appreciate all the work you guys do. It’s ugly work and lot’s of pressure, but you guys manage it well.”

“Dude, you guys have even crazier jobs. All that responsibility? How do you handle it?”

Sal thought for a moment. “. . . I sold my soul?” They both laughed. “No, uh, it’s really overwhelming, but the fulfillment is what keeps me going. I like it here.”

Larry smiled warmly. “Well, it was nice meeting you, Sal. I enjoyed talking to you.”

“Lar!” Herman called. “We’re heading out.”

“See ya, Sal.”

“Bye, Larry.” Sal clasped his hands in front of himself as he watched Larry walk out the doors of the E.R., smiling to himself under his prosthetic. At that moment, he truly felt a bit of appreciation, he maybe even blushed a little. Oh, well, he thought, time to go back to work, and he grabbed a patient chart and went to the corresponding. He opened the curtain. “Alright, Mr. Packerton, I’m here to draw some blood—”

“ _Ah_!” The patient yelped in fear when he was met with Sal, completely taken aback by his prosthetic.

_God, I just wanna go home_.

The drone of the ambulance mixed in with the rain and the silence of a quiet night following major trauma. Larry slouched back in the front seat as the fatigue was already settling in.

“Tired already, boy?” Herman asked, laughing.

“Ah, nope – fully awake. Alert. Ready to tackle the night.” Larry responded rubbing his eyes.

“You were being friendly with that nurse. What’s her name? Got a date?”

“He, actually.”

“Oh! Didn’t notice because he was so short and the way his hair was.”

“Haha, yeah. But, uh, we were just talking, ya know. . . making conversation.”

“Got a crush? You swing that way?”

“No, no, not at all. It was just small talk.”

“I don’t judge. I’m just here to save lives.”

“I can respect that.”

Ash ran her fingers through her ponytail and brought it in front of her face to stare at how annoyingly long her hair was. She frowned. “I think I’m gonna cut my hair,” she said.

“Aw, but I thought we were long-hair buddies,” Larry added.

“Yeah, but not for much longer. I need a change, plus I can already see this getting in the way.”

“Well, I think that’s a very wise decision,” Herman interjected. “A lot of women in this line of work usually end up cutting their hair and they say that it was the best decision they ever made… someone should take note,” obviously referencing Larry.

“Hey, everyone likes my hair!” Larry laughed. “Even _I_ like it,”

At St. Joseph’s, Sal took his place at the front desk and charted some patients that he didn’t get a chance to get to, cracking his knuckles and stretching his fingers as the constant typing made his hands ache down to the bone. His shift was thankfully almost over and he could go home and rest his aching joints for a new day. His daydream was interrupted when the sight of Dr. Morrison caught his eye and he looked up.

“You on-call tonight?” Sal asked.

Todd sighed. “Yeah, yay me… !” They both chuckled at the sarcasm. “I _love_ being an intern. Always being berated by second-years, attendings, and surgical interns… you’re probably my only friend here, Sal.”

“The feeling is mutual, Dr. Morrison,”

“Ugh, please spare me and just call me Todd,”

“I thought you went through 4 years of undergrad and 4 years of medical school _just_ to be called doctor?”

“Absolutely not. I put myself through hell to help people, not for a title,”

“You’re in the minority there,”

“Tell me about it,”

There was a pause filled in by keyboard clicks when Todd interjected, interrupting the silence.

“Hey, you were acting kind of strange around the Phelps patient earlier… what was that about?” Todd asked.

Sal laughed. “Oh, it was nothing, he was just…“ he swallowed as if the following was going to be a lot harder to say. “… an ex,”

“Ohhh,” Todd nodded. “How long did it last?”

“Oh, pfft, it was just a dumb, stupid high school fling… that lasted for 2 years,”

“So it was serious?” Todd smirked.

“I mean, _sure_ , I _guess_ it was serious. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to my charting,”

“Haha, okay, Sal,” Just as Todd was about to get back to work, he made another comment. “Don’t take me too seriously when I say this but you and that paramedic would be pretty cute,”

“Paramedic—? _Oh_ …” Sal brushed off the comment and continued to type away at the computer, but he also allowed himself to think of that paramedic from earlier. What was his name again? Garry? Barry?

_Larry_.

A smile involuntarily spread across Sal’s face as he thought about Larry, but quickly shook it away and tried to get back to work.

That’s when Paul Phelps burst through the doors of the E.R. looking absolutely mentally insane.

“God is coming to damn you all!” he screamed, blood pouring from his forehead and right thigh. “No one on this Earth should give health to sinners! My son is a queer and should be condemned to hell!”

Sal immediately jumped up from his chair and raced up to the crazed male, trying to calm him down. “Sir, please, you need to calm down right now, or I’ll have no choice but to call the— _agh_!”

Paul gripped the collar of Sal’s scrubs and stared at him with pure, unadulterated hatred in his eyes. “You are the one who spread his filth onto my son! Satan will drag you down to hell on the day you draw your last breath—” Paul’s ramblings were cut off short when Todd injected a sedative into the side of his neck, and he fell to the floor along with Sal. Todd grabbed a hold of Sal’s arms and carefully brought him back onto his feet.

“You okay, Sal?” Todd asked with concern.

“Yes, yes, I’m fine,” Sal replied, then lowered his voice. “That’s Travis Phelps’s father… he’s a Christian pastor,”

“Geez, it’s twenty-frickin’-eighteen — haven’t we learned anything?” he sighed with frustration. “Glad you’re okay, though, Sal. Now, I gotta treat this piece of work,”

Sal watched on as they got Paul onto a stretcher and sent him to a bed to do a work-up on his injuries, while they were walking away, he heard Todd order someone to page psych and he couldn’t help but let out a tiny chuckle. He sat back down in his chair and continued to chart his patients until his shift was over. His back hurt, his feet screamed, his neck stiffened, and all he wanted to do was sleep. After a while, he finished up and he saw one of the night-shift nurses come in to start her night and gave her a kind wave. Sal packed up his stuff from his locker and drove on home.

As Sal finished his shift, Larry was beginning a new call and was transporting the patient to the pediatric hospital located in the city. It wasn’t a major case, so the lights and sirens of the ambulance weren’t blaring and waking up the entire city of Seattle. Larry was now in the back of the ambulance filling out a patient form while Ash was up front with Herman.

“Do you think Larry will eventually hit it off with that nurse back at St. Joseph’s?” Ash joked.

Herman laughed. “You joke, but I won’t be surprised if he does. However, they talked to each other for a good minute before heading off their separate ways so it’s possible nothing will happen.”

“Mm,” Ash nodded. “Well, I guess we have to make sure we frequent St. Joseph's more often,”

“Why are you so invested in Lar’s love life but not yours?”

“Because I’m not really interested at the moment and I just wanna focus on the job, _buuut_ if someone were to come into my life and we hit it off, I wouldn’t say no,”

“That was exactly my philosophy when I started. Then I met my dear Sandy and she lit up my world like nobody else that I’ve met before her,”

Ash turned around to glance at Larry interacting with the patient. She smiled and turned back around. “Well, I guess that’s what we all aim for: to fall in love with our own Sandy’s.”

Herman nodded. “Exactly. And Larry’s Sandy could be right in front of him in his own field of work. I want to live to see the day you two fall for your Sandy’s.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DISCLAIMER: I am not a medical professional nor educated in emergency responder terminology and healthcare legality. The content in this fic is mainly materials I've gathered from my own research and classes I've taken. I do not own the video game Sally Face and its characters.

So, here’s the thing: Paramedics get paid jack-squat for the shit they go through. You could fill an endless novel written by emergency responders all over the world with the fucked-up, dark, twisted shit that they’ve seen. They crawl through wet, bug-infested homes and pick up old, decaying corpses with festering, disgusting wounds. They respond to suicides, domestic disputes, attempted murder, and all for just over 30k a year — which begs the question: Is it worth it?

Well, of course, it is.

When Larry walks into Base to start the night shift, he is greeted with some of the most hardworking and dedicated men and women Seattle has to offer. His tired yet eager peers join together for food, talks, adventure, and comfort. He’s surrounded with love: tough and affectionate, doesn’t even matter. As he makes his first steps into the station, the first person he sees is a happy, excited Ash, several inches shorter than last night.

Her hair was several inches shorter, to be exact.

“Larry, oh my gosh!” Ash called out. “Look at my hair, ahh! Do you like it?”

“You actually cut it!” Larry responded with a smile. “I absolutely love it. You look amazing, Ash,”

Ash took a few more moments to show off her short, cute bob that went just below her jawline. “I’m so happy I did it. After our shift, I went to my hairdresser and went, _cut it off!_ ” she laughed. “No, not really, but seriously. I even had enough cut off to donate to that charity where your hair is made into a wig for kids with cancer. Isn’t that awesome? God, I feel so fulfilled and the night hasn’t even started!”

“Well, my long hair is here to stay and I’m not letting it go anytime soon. It’s too… _luscious,_ ”

“You’re so lame,”

“Lar!” Herman called across the room. “Glad you’re here. We just got a call. Ash, you’re coming with us.”

The two wasted no time getting their stuff and piling into the truck, en route to the location sent by dispatch. Larry took his place in the back of the truck and Ash sat in front with Herman, rushing into the streets of Nockfell county. Herman picked up his radio to speak, “Dispatch, this is Ambulance Unit 28 from Nockfell County Base, do you copy?”

“Yes, go ahead,” Dispatch responded.

“Give us the rundown of the call for us one more time,”

“There was a call from a citizen who was walking his dog in the Nockfell County Forest near the lake when he came across a body that looked like it had been there for no more than two days at the most. 26-year-old male. There are multiple lacerations to both wrists and one single cut across his throat. Looks like attempted suicide. County police are on the scene. Patient is alive.”

“ _Alive?!_ ” Larry was absolutely awestruck.

“Holy shit,” Ash mumbled.

“Got it. ETA: Five minutes,” Herman put the radio down and floored the gas pedal. Upon arrival, they saw a cop car and an officer waiting for the ambulance to pull in. All three grabbed their bags and followed the cop into the woods with flashlights until they saw the patient they were looking for.

It was a nightmare.

Larry knelt next to the man and approached him with a calm tone of voice. “Hi, I’m a paramedic. I’m here to help you. Can you tell me your name?”

The man just breathed slowly and deeply for a few moments before speaking. “… Neil,”

“Hi, Neil. I’m Larry. I’m going to get you patched up and then we’re going to take you to the hospital where you’ll be taken care of. Have you done this before?” Larry was about to put the first bandage around his left wrist when he saw something that made his stomach jump up to his throat.

There were maggots crawling in and out of the cuts on Neil’s body.

With the amount of rain that has fallen during the past few days, Larry should have known how messy the woods were going to be, but nothing could have prepared him for the sight he was beholding at that moment.

“No,” was Neil’s response to Larry asking if he had attempted suicide before. “No, this was… my first time…” his voice was low and raspy and fatigued.

Larry took out some peroxide to clean the cuts as much as he could. “Okay, Neil, this is going to sting a lot, but I’m gonna need for you to stay as still as you can okay?” He gave him a few moments to prepare and then poured the peroxide over the lacerations. He watched as they began to foam, showing signs of major infection. The peroxide seemed to clear out the majority of the maggots, but Larry was still extremely on the fence on whether that was the right choice or not. Still, he didn’t wrap the cuts. Herman came back with the stretcher and Larry and Ash helped with rolling him on, strapping him in, and loading him into the ambulance.

“Alright, Neil, I need you to tell me your full name, what year it is, and where you’re currently at,” Ash said, hooking him up to an IV and pushing a bit of morphine.

“. . . I’m Neil Anderson. . . it’s 2018. . . I’m in an ambulance. . .” his voice was starting to slur, which raised suspicions with Ash.

“Neil? Neil, can you smile for me?”

Neil smiled – both sides going up. Ash sighed quietly. “You’re going to be okay, Neil, we’re almost at St. Joseph’s,” Larry reassured. “Just stay with me,”

“ _Keep him talking,_ ” Ash mouthed.

“Do you have any family that we should contact? Tell me about your family for a moment,”

“My mom,” Neil answered. “I don’t want her to see me like this, though. . . I don’t want her heart to break more than it already has. . .”

Ash looked up and saw that they had arrived at the ambulance drop-off of St. Joseph’s. “Neil, we’re going to bring you inside now, okay?”

Carefully, they loaded the patient out of the ambulance and into the ER. Larry announced the patient’s condition, and almost as if in cue, Todd swooped in and took him to triage.

“Hi, I’m Dr. Morrison, I’ll be taking care of you – can you tell me your name?”

“Neil,”

“Hi, Neil. Can you tell me if you’re having any chest pain? Neck pain?”

“No. . . none of that. . .”

Todd was about to ask another question when he looked up and saw that Neil’s bottom lip was shaking, and small whimpers bounced around in his throat. It wasn’t long until tears sprouted from his eyes and he broke into a sob.

“I’m sorry. . . I’m so sorry. . . oh, God. . .” Neil sobbed.

Todd stood there speechless for a moment, his mind totally drawing a blank on how to handle the situation. Without thinking, he grabbed Neil’s hand as he hoped that it’ll bring him comfort. “Neil, don’t be sorry. You’re going to be fine. We’ll take care of you,”

“I’m sorry. . . I’m s. . . “ Neil’s voice slurred to a stop and the heart monitor started to beep erratically. Todd looked and Neil’s body started seizing. Immediately, he pushed Neil’s body onto his left side and started shouting orders as nurses came in to help.

“Push two of phenobarbital,” Todd ordered. “I want an MRI and a CT scan and–…”

“Dr. Morrison?” One of the nurses called, but Todd didn’t answer. A wave of panic rushed over him that drowned out any forms of communication coming his way. “Dr. Morrison!”

“. . . Take him to the nearest attending,” Todd finally said.

“But you’re his doctor,” said one the nurses. “Come on, Dr. Morrison, you can do this. Just breathe.”

Todd put his hands on top of his head and tried with every fiber of his being to prevent hyperventilating. So many things were happening at once – so many things that Todd could stop if he just had the headspace to think.

Then, like magic, Neil stopped seizing, and he went back to normal sinus rhythm. It took Todd a few minutes to catch his breath before going back to orders. “I’m gonna order a CT scan and an MRI and an X-ray. I also need to know if this guy regularly sees a neurologist or a cardiologist. . . excuse me for a moment,”

Todd wasted no time to rush out the doors of the ER and vomit on the concrete below his feet, trying his hardest to not get any of his sick on his navy scrubs and white coat, luxuriously stating “Dr. Todd Morrison, MD”. It was a contradicting sight: someone in such a respectful uniform — someone who holds so much education and work ethic under his belt — is seen puking outside the ER after handling a somewhat stressful situation. He felt someone tap him on the shoulder and stood up with fear but turned to see that it was actually just Sal with a handful of paper towels.

“Thought you might’ve wanted a few of these,” Sal offered with no signs of judgment or patronization.

Todd took the pile and picked out one paper towel, wiping his face. “Thanks, Sal…”

“You okay? What exactly happened…?”

Todd finished cleaning himself up. “I don’t know, Sal… but you must _never_ mention this to anyone else. If anyone asks, I caught a stomach bug,” Without saying anything else, he went back into the ER to get back to work as Sal followed shortly behind him, getting back to the patient he was previously attending to.

Sal had a weird day that day. It all started when a nightmare woke him up earlier than usual so he decided to spend that extra time cleaning his room. He took a hot shower to relax his muscles for another long day at the hospital, stopped at the gas station for his obligatory can of Monster, followed by a snide comment from Chug, the morning-shift cashier, on how drinking energy drinks was going to “make him die early”, and Sal laughing on the way out the door. That morning, he greeted the night-shift nurse as she started to leave and went to his locker to get out the stuff he needed for the day. For a few hours, things were standard as he tended to the patients that came in and out, but there was a thought banging at the back of his head that wouldn’t go away — something that wouldn’t go away unless he acted on it.

He had to know what room Travis Phelps was admitted to.

It turned out Travis was admitted to the ICU, so on Sal’s lunch break, he made his way up there for a visit, second-thoughts arriving with him. Sal hadn’t seen Travis in over six years; their breakup happening during high school graduation season and immediately going their separate ways. Sal wasn’t even sure that Travis knew that he worked at this hospital, let alone worked as a nurse. He followed down the string of transparent glass doors until he came across a familiar face sleeping in bed. That face was covered with stitches, swelling, and bruises that looked like they were gonna stay there for a good while. He was breathing, vitals were stable, wasn’t hooked up to a ventilator — Sal took a deep breath before knocking on the door frame.

Travis’s tired eyes started to flutter open and a groan escaped his throat, looking around to adjust to the environment around him. “Hello…?” he groaned with fatigue, not noticing Sal standing there right in front of him. It took him a few more seconds, but his gaze eventually fell upon Sal’s figure, and he absolutely could not believe it. “… Sal?”

“Hey, Travis,” Sal greeted, albeit awkwardly.

“I… wow… it’s been so long. H-How are you?”

“I’m good, thanks,” Sal made his way over to the chair beside the bed and sat down, scooting closer to Travis’s side. “How are _you?_ ”

“I, uh, heh, wish we were reuniting under better circumstances,” his laugh was weak, and he ended up having to cough. “So, what are you, like, a doctor?”

“Nurse — down in the ER,” Sal answered with a small proudness to his voice.

“Huh. Never thought you’d take the medical route. I always thought you were going to make it as a member of a rock band,”

“Trust me, I didn’t think so, either, haha,”

There was a silence that lingered between them for way too long before Travis finally broke the silence.

“Why’d you come to visit me?” The insecurities were starting to bleed into Travis’s tone.

“Because you’re my friend, Travis. That’s why,”

“Yeah, a friend who you haven’t looked in the eyes since they left you,”

“Travis, please—”

“No, no, I get it, Sal,” he interrupted. “Big, scary, Christian man finds out his son is a fag and threatens his son’s boyfriend with physical harm until eventually, his son grows more of a coward and ashamed of his relationship that he breaks up with him cold turkey and never calls or texts ever again… I get it…”

“Travis, _please,_ ” Sal’s hand twitched as old muscle memory came back of holding his hand. “Please, you got out of surgery just this morning. You’re probably in a lot of pain right now and your emotions are running wild. You just survived a _very_ traumatic accident and there were times where your heart actually stopped beating. We could have lost you. Please, just… just take it easy,”

Travis’s bottom lip was quivering uncontrollably. “Where’s my dad?”

Sal shook his head. “I don’t know. He was transported to a different hospital for… reasons…”

Travis scoffed. “Come _on,_ Sal. We don’t see each other for over six years after a messy breakup, and — what — now you can’t even talk to me as a nurse to a patient and answer a simple question?”

Sal waited a moment to answer Travis’s question. “… That’s a question you’re gonna have to ask the police, Travis,”

Travis laid his head back against the bed and looked forward, then he turned on his side away from Sal as tears started to slowly fall from his eyes. “I’m going back to sleep. Leave me alone,”

Sal was snapped out of his flashback when he felt a tap on his shoulder and turned around with caution, expecting to see an annoyed, older nurse about to ask why Sal was just staring off into space, but instead was met with the smile of Larry, and his heart felt lighter in his chest.

“Oh, hey there,” Sal greeted. “I wasn’t expecting that you’d still be here. Thought you and the other three might have skedaddled on out of here already, heh,”

“I wasn’t gonna leave without talking to you first,” Larry admitted.

“Do I hold that much importance to you that you absolutely cannot do your job without saying a word to me?” Sal teased.

“Perhaps,” they both laughed. “Nah, I was actually coming to check up on you, say hi, wonder how your day was going, etcetera,”

“My day was… interesting, for lack of a better word. It’s been a long, emotional, weird day, and I’m just ready to go home and snuggle with my cat,”

“Cat, eh? How many pets do you have?”

“Just the one cat. A boy. His name is Gizmo and he’s kinda like my therapy cat. He’s a little weirdo, but I love him and I’d pretty much die for him,”

“Got any pictures?”

“I wish I could show you but they’re all in my locker and I don’t feel like traveling all the way down there,” Sal’s pager beeped and he checked it, signifying that he must go. “Plus, one of my patient’s scans just came back, and I gotta go make sure they’re clean,”

“Well, I’ll leave you to it,” Larry smiled. “Bye, Sal — see ya around,” he waved and turned to leave.

Sal returned the wave, feeling a bit of sadness as he watched Larry walk away, but he sighed it off and marched upstairs to radiology.

There was a silence in the screening room as all eyes fell upon the chest x-ray that explained it all.

“ _Atrial myxoma,_ ” Todd said quietly to himself. “Neil has a heart tumor. Right there,” he pointed to the lump sat on the right atrium of the heart. “So that back there wasn’t a seizure, that was—”

“An ischemic stroke,” Sal jutted in.

“Is this why…? But, these tumors are noncancerous, why would he feel the need to…?”

“Everybody has their reasons,” Sal mumbled.

“Neil is getting cleaned up and sutured right now. Then after that, we’re admitting him,”

“But, wait, we’re only treating him for the cuts, not the tumor,” Sal said. “We can’t keep him if we don’t have a reason to,”

“Uh, Sal?” Todd broadly gestured to all of Neil’s scans. “ _These_ are our reasons. If we admit him, then we can keep him while we search for a new mitral valve and remove his tumor,”

Sal crossed his arms and laughed. “Gee, with this enthusiasm, you sound you’re in love with him,”

This statement made Todd fall silent for a moment. “… Not in love, just optimistic,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yay! new chapter!  
> sorry that theres such a wait in between each chapter. im trying to make each chapter as long as possible to cure my underwriting, but it takes me so long to finish that i think im gonna try to shorten them a little if i can. the first chapter was 10 google doc pages while this one was 7.  
> well anyways i hope u guys are loving this story just as much as i am!! enjoy the new chapter! <3


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DISCLAIMER: I am not a medical professional nor educated in emergency responder terminology and healthcare legality. The content in this fic is mainly materials I've gathered from my own research and classes I've taken. I do not own the video game Sally Face and its characters.

_ Knock, knock. _

Neil groaned as he started to wake up to the sound of someone knocking on the doorframe of his hospital room door, swallowing the taste of sleep down his dry, raspy throat. It was the day after they found Neil’s body in the Nockfell forest — one surgery and many stitches later. His whole body ached from the uncomfortable hospital bed and the aftermath of surgeons digging into his arms and throat. He opened his eyes and rubbed at the crust building up in the inner corners, clearing his throat. “Come in,”

Dr. Todd Morrison stepped into the room: stethoscope draped over his neck and clipboard in hand. “Hey, Mr. Anderson,” he greeted in a soft voice. “I’m Dr. Morrison—”

“Oh, I remember you,”

Todd stood there for a moment as the tone of Neil’s voice made him nervous as if he must have done something wrong to upset him, but was quickly turned around when Neil smiled. “Glad to see ya, doc,”

Todd smiled back and approached him. “The surgery went well. No sign of sepsis or any other fatal infection. You’re stable and doing well,”

Neil nodded. “You’re going to admit me to the psych ward, aren’t you?”

“That’s not my call,” Todd shrugged. “I’m just an intern,”

“Well, you do one hell of a job for ‘just an intern’,” Neil chuckled.

Todd blushed. “Thank you,”

“I don’t remember much of last night,” Neil said. “I  _ do  _ remember them finding me in the woods and taking me here, then I remember you… then that’s where things get foggy for me,”

“You had an ischemic stroke disguised as a seizure when we triaged you to a bed,” Todd responded. “We scanned you and found an atrial myxoma on the right atrium of your heart. We have reason to believe that’s what caused your stroke,”

Todd expected Neil to become worried and burst out with a bunch of questions, but he just nodded. “I know,”

“You knew about the tumor, Neil?”

“Yeah. Was diagnosed last week by my cardiologist. He referred me to a cardiothoracic surgeon to talk about surgery, but… I never went,”

“Why not?” Todd pulled up a chair next to Neil’s bed, setting his clipboard on his lap.

“… Too expensive? Too much of an emotional burden on my family…? I don’t know,”

“Neil, this type of tumor is non-cancerous, but if we don’t remove it soon, you could have an embolism and you could die,”

“There’s a chance that surgery could increase the chances of me having an embolism, I know, I know — my cardiologist went over everything with me,” Neil sat up in his bed with a grunt. “The whole thing is messy to me. There’s just… so much going on at the moment with me and my family it’s just…  _ messy, _ ”

A short silence followed that was broken when Todd put his stethoscope into his ears and leaned over Neil, placing the drum over his heart. “Take a deep breath for me,” he listened closely and, sure enough, there was a systolic murmur coming through the ear tips. When Todd went to turn away, he and Neil shared gazes, and for a split second, Todd studied Neil’s tired, dark eyes staring straight into his: a moment of intimacy between a doctor and a patient. Quickly, he sat back down in his chair and draped his stethoscope back around his neck. “Well, Dr. Burke will be up here to see you soon and talk of proceeding with surgery, um, in the meantime, if you need me…” he hesitated. “… have someone page me,” Todd smiled as he collected his things and exited the room, red-faced and embarrassed.

“… Thanks, doc,” Neil called out as Todd awkwardly left the room.

In the ICU, Sal was yet making another visit to Travis to check up on his progress. It had been two days since the initial accident, and Travis had been reluctant to the physical therapy the nurses had been trying to get him to do.

“They want me to do laps around the floor,” Travis scoffed. “They  _ know  _ that I’m not paralyzed, and they  _ know  _ that my spine hasn’t been crushed to death, so why are they making me walk? I should be home now!”

“It’s just to make sure,” Sal responded. “You were in critical condition when you came here, and doing surgery was a huge risk, but you made it, Travis. Now they just want you to be in top condition before they can send you home,”

Travis fell silent. “… The police came today. They were asking me questions on if my dad ever laid a hand on me or if he had a history of mental illness and… all this terrible stuff that I didn’t wanna talk about,”

“Well, did you say yes?”

“…  _ Of course, I did, _ ” Travis whispered, close to tears. “I told them everything that that man did to me ever since he started having  _ suspicions _ that I was gay!” his voice started raising and tears fell from his eyes. “He put me through hell! He put  _ us  _ through hell! And since he wasn’t here to defend himself, I said fuckin’  _ everything,  _ Sal!”

Sal looked up at Travis’s heart monitor. His blood pressure was starting to rise. “Shhh… Travis… it’s okay… you must calm down… “

Travis was trembling with anger, but he complied with Sal’s orders and laid back in his bed. “Goddammit…” he pressed his lips together.

“Today, you are going to do one lap around the floor just to get it over with. After that, you can spend the rest of your day in bed,”

“But I wanna go  _ home, _ Sal,”

“I know you do, but it’s still been only two days since you were ejected from a frickin’ car,”

“They’re saying that it’s a miracle that I’m not in a coma right now,”

“And it  _ is, _ ”

“I don’t believe in miracles anymore, Sal… it’s all a scam,”

Another silence fell in between the two before Sal placed his hand on Travis’s shoulder for comfort. “Things will only get better from here — I promise,”

The day progressed into the night like any other. Sal and Todd tended to patients as they came into their ER, fixed them up, and sent them on back to wherever they came from. As the sun came closer to disappearing, Sal noticed himself starting to feel the fatigue and pain of a twelve-hour shift start to get to him. His fingers ached with every keyboard click and his feet burned with every step. He feared that his work was going to start becoming sloppy, so he went to the nurses’ lounge room and got his energy drink from the fridge, taking a large gulp to hopefully bring some pep back to his step. He drank the rest of it and went back to charting previous patients he had. That’s when the phone started ringing, and since he was closer, he answered.

“St. Joseph’s,” his tired voice spoke into the speaker.

“This is Nockfell County Paramedics Unit 28,” the voice on the other end was unmistakeably Larry’s. “We are en route with a primary-one unconscious 20-year-old male G.S.W. victim. The gunshot entered the left side of his neck and there are no signs of an exit hole. There is a lot of arterial bleeding and his BP is dropping rapidly. We are applying pressure to the area to hopefully staunch the blood flow but he is still losing a lot of blood,”

“How’s his sinus rhythm?” Sal asked.

“He’s bradycardic. We’ve shocked him multiple times and nothing has changed. We’re pulling in now,”

“Okay. We’ll meet you out there,” Sal hung up. “We need an attending! Major G.S.W. coming in now!”

The Emergency Medicine attending came in and swooped up the patient as soon as he entered the ER. Sal and Todd helped out with trying to save the patient. It was a nightmare. Blood was already getting everywhere in the pit, covering the floors in its slick state. Its smell was wafting up in Sal’s prosthetic, making his one human eye water. Todd was helping out with injecting the right fluids into the man’s veins. It was a matter of time before the patient flatlined. They shocked him multiple times and did compressions for twenty minutes, but it was no use. The patient succumbed to his injuries and died in the ER.

The attending looked at Todd, breathing heavily from doing compressions. “Dr. Morrison — call it,”

Todd felt the guilt start to build up in his chest. “… Time of death: 9:00 PM,” he angrily took his gloves off and left the room, Sal following.

“Todd, wait!” Sal called out, but Todd was already somewhere else. He sighed, looking down at his blood-soaked scrubs. His black top and blue bottoms were covered in a sickening tint of red. The rush of desperately trying to save a life was quickly diminished when that life went away. His shift was close to being over, then he could enjoy his days off until he had to start a new set of twelves that next week.

He looked up when he saw a person approaching and saw that it was Larry, who was also covered in the blood from the same person. He couldn’t help but let out a chuckle, but the heaviness of losing a life still hung in the air of the ER.

“Hey, Sal,” Larry greeted.

“Hey, Larry,”

“… Tough start to my night,”

“Tough end to my day,” he scratched the back of his head. “Sorry that we had to greet each other like this,”

“I feel like this won’t be the last time we see each other covered in blood. That’s what we get for working in trauma,”

“Yep…”

Larry had actually wanted to ask Sal a question, but after the events that just happened, he was reluctant to ask because he felt that it was inappropriate. The silence between them was getting more awkward, and Larry needed to say at least something, so he just decided to say  _ fuck it _ and go for it.

“I actually came over to ask you something,” Larry interjected.

“Hm? What is it?” Sal asked.

“… Would you… perhaps wanna go out and get some drinks at some point? We could hang out at that bar that’s a block away from here:  _ Maple’s Gin House. _ Ever heard of it? I know the owner,”

Sal did not want to answer that question because he was afraid of the inevitable judgment that would come from Larry. “… I, uh… I don’t drink, actually… kind of a personal thing?”

“Oh, that’s fine! I wasn’t planning on drinking anyway. I just thought it was just a nice place to hang out: good food, soda, laughing at drunk people, etcetera… you in?”

Sal couldn’t help but smile under his prosthetic as a slight blush appeared on his cheeks and ears. “Yes, I’m in. That sounds great,”

Larry smiled from ear-to-ear. “Great. You off tomorrow? We can meet up there at around five?”

Sal nodded. “Yes, yes — that’s perfect. I’ll see you then,”

“See ya then, Sal,” he waved before turning around and heading out with Ash and Herman, leaving Sal a smiley mess.

Ash wasted no time before prying into Larry’s business as they loaded into the ambulance. “So? Did you ask him? If you didn’t, I’ll smack ya!”

Larry laughed. “Yes, yes I asked him,”

“Annnd…?”

“ _ Annnd _ he said yes,”

Ash started cheering. “Woohoo! Yes! Go Lar!”

“Shhh, hush!” Larry looked down. “It’s not that big of a deal. It’s just us hanging out at  _ Maple’s, _ ”

“Maple is gonna freak as well and you know it,” Ash slapped a hand down onto Larry’s shoulder. “You just scored a date with Sal!”

“Agh, I don’t wanna call it a date. I’m still unsure of my feelings. I mean, I’ve only known him for three days. It would be pretty foolish if I started crushing on him so soon. Like, what if he doesn’t feel the same way?”

“Then you two would be awesome friends,” Herman said. “A nurse and a paramedic: power duo,”

“Herman’s right,” Ash said. “This could be the start of a beautiful friendship or relationship. We just have to let nature take its course,”

“You’re right,” Larry replied. “Just let nature take its course,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im so sorry that the chapters are getting shorter and shorter! im still trying to write the build up so we can get to the good stuff ;)  
> im also so happy with the attention this is getting! all your comments make me smile :) to better connect with you all, u can follow me on twitter! i mainly just shitpost but i would love to have more ppl to cry about sally face with,,  
> my twitter: toskabear  
> thanks for reading! <333


	4. Chapter 4

When Sal is on his day off, nothing extraordinary happens.

His internal clock wakes him up fairly early, around nine in the morning, and is always greeted by Gizmo nuzzling against his head. He checks his phone and scrolls through text messages and emails, picking out the ones that he could answer right away, and the ones he’ll answer later on. He feeds Gizmo his breakfast, showers, puts in his fake eye, brushes his teeth, gets dressed for whatever errands he must do that day, and heads out to the convenient store he frequents on a daily basis.

When he stepped inside the Speedway, he was greeted by Chug, the cashier who worked the early morning shift. “G’mornin’, Sal!” Chug says with a smile.

“Hey, Chug — how’s life?” Sal asked as he walked over to the drinks.

“Oh, ya know, same old shit,” Chug responded. “Just trying to save up money to move out and get a place of my own. I passed my permit test, by the way,”

Sal took out a can of Monster. “That’s great! When are you gonna start practicing?”

“My dad is taking me out driving this weekend… but, I’m really nervous, Sal. I’ve never driven before,”

Sal came to the counter with his can of Monster and a banana nut muffin. “It’s okay to be nervous, Chug. However, you’ll be surprised at how quickly you get the hang of things. I know it sounds easier to just drive around in a parking lot, but in all honesty, you wanna get out on the roads ASAP,”

Chug rang up Sal’s items. “I dunno, dude. I feel like my life is flying by so fast. Too fast. Before I know it, I’ll be married!”

“That’s life, man,” Sal took out his debit card to pay for his items.

“Hey, what are you up to today? Instead of the same ol’ same ol’?”

Sal took out his card. “I, uh… I’m going on a… date?”

“Whoa, man! Dope!”

“W-Well, I…” Sal sighed. “I dunno if it’s  _ actually  _ a date,”

“Who asked you?”

“This paramedic that works the night shift. His name’s Larry,”

“Oooh, Sally’s gotta boyfriend!” Chug teased.

“Oh, shut up, Chug. I told you, I dunno if it’s actually a date or if it’s just hanging out. He…” Sal’s voice became small. “He  _ is  _ really cute, though,”

Chug bagged Sal’s items. “Where’re you two going?”

“Just some bar a block away from the hospital:  _ Maple’s Gin House, _ ”

“Holy shit, you two are going to  _ Maple’s?  _ I love that place! The owner is  _ wicked  _ hot,”

“Heh, yeah, I’ve never been,”

“Ohhh, that’s right, you don’t drink. Well, I mean, they serve soda and good food there! After all, you don’t have to be drunk to have fun,”

Sal took his bag of items off the counter. “I dunno. I’m just nervous. Well, anyways, I’ll see ya, Chug,”

“See ya, Sal!”

Sal had spent years of his life training himself to get over his depth perception problem in order to be able to drive and take care of himself. For someone who only has one human eye, it’s a lot harder to get around than you may think. He still wasn’t perfect, not at brain surgeon accuracy, but he’s good enough to do basic human tasks and sticking IVs into veins. This just meant that he had to pay extra attention to the road when he drove, which isn’t a huge burden per se. He went about the rest of his free time getting groceries and snuggling with Gizmo in his apartment.

Todd, on the other hand, hardly had any days off, thanks to being a medical intern. He spent his days carrying around charts upon charts to the point where his spine started to ache with untreatable pain. He wrote notes until he could barely move his hands. He had to put on his toughest act available when he was talked down on from attendings and veteran nurses. Todd wondered why he chose to obtain this career. There were points to where he almost called it quits, but there came little moments where he realized that all this pain was going to be worth it.

He had a little clearing of time, so he decided to visit Neil in his room and check up on his progress. When he came into the doorway, Neil was awake and watching the news on his television. He spotted Todd out of the corner of his eye, smiled, then waved at him to come in.

“Good morning, Neil,” Todd greeted, taking a seat next to his bed.

“Good morning, Dr. Morrison. How are things?” Neil asked.

“I should be asking you the same thing,” Todd giggled. “Ugh, I’ve been so busy and emotionally drained. I’m getting my ass kicked here. If I’m not taking care of patients and writing in charts, I’m getting verbally abused by my boss and other fellow interns. Which, I know I’m gonna sound like a complete douchebag when I say this, but the Emergency Medicine interns this year are  _ incompetent, _ ”

Neil laughed. “I don’t doubt that you’re the best. You’ve been doing one hell of a job taking care of me and I’m technically not even your patient,”

“Not my patient  _ anymore. _ You used to be,”

Neil nodded. “Yeah,” he turned off the TV. “I met my shrink for the first time yesterday,”

“Oh really? How did that go?”

“Eh, it was alright,” Neil shrugged. “I’m seeing Dr. Montague. He’s very sweet, I’m just awkward and scared, that’s all. Plus…” he leaned in closer to Todd as if he were telling a secret. “I’m pretty sure he has problems of his own,”

Todd laughed, his orange curls bouncing. “Ah…”

A silence followed between the two men before Todd spoke up. “How was the meeting with Dr. Burke?” he asked. “Have you… made a decision?”

Neil half-smiled. “I’m proceeding with the surgery,”

“Oh, well, that’s great!”

“I guess, haha!”

Todd’s smile continued to grow. “I’m very happy you came to that decision. I know I’m not supposed to influence your choices, but—”

“Dr. Morrison, this was all totally my call,”

“Please, just call me Todd,”

The two men laughed together joyously with cheers to good health. It was a special moment that they shared, with Todd’s freckled nose scrunching up, and Neil’s bright teeth showing through smiles. It was a small thing to celebrate: the removal of a benign heart tumor, and the help of robotic surgical tools, the procedure would be minimally invasive, safe, and quick. Todd knew with the mountains of knowledge under his belt that Neil was going to be more than fine.

That fact made him feel an unusual feeling of relief.

The two calmed down from their joyous moment just to see that both of their eyes met each other at the end of their last chuckle, and the gravity of the room started to close in on just them. Only them. The pressure rose a significant amount. Todd’s cheeks felt a little warmer. Todd and Neil were sharing the same telepathic signals between them, both knowing what they wanted to come out of the tension that grew.

That’s when Todd connected his lips with Neil’s, and a thousand sparks erupted through his nerves.

The kiss lasted a little under ten seconds before Todd realized what he was doing and pulled back with horror. “Oh… oh, no… oh,  _ no, _ ” Todd rose from his seat and began to leave.

“Todd, wait—”

Todd was almost out of the room before he turned around. “No! Call me Dr. Morrison, I—… that was  _ very  _ unprofessional of me. I have to go,” he left in a fit of panic.

He left Neil hanging on with questions.

***

Sal’s hands started to sweat a little as approached the cutesy-punk bar that was the location for his meet-up with Larry. Never setting foot inside a bar, and having a fear of alcohol, he was reasonably nervous and almost even turned back around to go home. Despite his anxieties, he persisted and stepped inside.

The people sitting closest to the entrance were the first to set eyes on him, making him feel a bit self-conscious about his appearance. He had his hair down, showcasing his messy, layered blue waves that ran a little past his shoulders. He wore high-waisted, ripped jeans with a plain, black t-shirt tucked into them, finishing off with black converse.

At first, Sal became even more apprehensive as he couldn’t find Larry anywhere, and he didn’t want to wander around like a lost puppy. He figured that maybe he hadn’t arrived yet, and he would sit himself down at a table and wait. All that washed away when a familiar voice called to him from the far right.

“Sal!” Larry waved from a small, circular table, signaling him to come over.

Sal smiled and made his way over and sat down in the chair across from Larry. “God, I thought that I would never find you!” he laughed nervously, trying to talk over the crowded conversations and punk music.

Larry flashed a smile. “It’s okay, dude, you can always count on me to come and find you,” he laughed.

Likewise to Sal, Larry wore his hair down, running down way longer than Sal’s. His hair was straight and thin and looked soft to touch, framing his skinny face. His attire was similar to Sal’s, the only difference being that he wore a graphic tee that hung loose past his waist and black sneakers.

The only consistent thing between the two was the butterflies that flew in their stomachs.

“I’m not gonna lie, I’m a little nervous,” Sal said. “I’ve never really been inside of a bar before so this is all a little—” he gestured broadly. “—overwhelming,” he chuckled.

“I’ll be your guide, then. It’s okay to be nervous, though. These places can be a little nervewracking,”

Sal crossed his ankles and placed his hands between his thighs, the awkwardness settling in for him. “Hehe, thanks!”

Larry looked behind his shoulder towards the bar. There stood a woman with short, silver hair with dark skin and dark lips. Sal assumed that it was the owner, only to have his suspicions confirmed when Larry called out her name.

“Hey, Maple!” Larry shouted, earning a smile from her.

“Hey, Lar!” Maple responded with a towelette in her hand and a smile on her face. She came out from behind the bar and approached the two men. “What’s going on here? A date?”

Larry and Sal immediately shared looks as in they were telepathically shouting,  _ Well, is it?! _

“Ah, no, just hanging out,” Larry finally said, feeling stupid.

“Who’s your friend?” Maple asked.

“Oh, I’m Sal. Nice to meet you,” he gave her a small wave.

“Hi, Sal! I’m Maple. I’m the owner, obviously, haha. How come I’ve never seen you in here before?”

“Ah, I’ve just been busy and never really gave it much thought, heh…” 

“Well, I’m glad that we could finally meet!” she took out a small notepad. “What can I get you two to drink?”

“I’ll just have a water,” Sal answered.

“Same here,” Larry said.

Maple wrote down their drinks and went back to the bar to get them. In the meantime, Larry and Sal could only muster up awkward giggles and smiles as their nervous selves could not come up with any meaningful conversation. Before they knew it, their drinks came and it was time for some food.

“Um, actually, I’m not really that hungry so I guess we’ll just have two orders of fries and mozzarella sticks,” Larry turned to look at Sal. “Does that sound okay with you?”

“Uh, y-yeah! That sounds good, yeah,” Sal responded.

Maple smiled as she wrote down their orders and disappeared once more behind the bar, getting back to bartending.

“So, how’s your day going so far?” Larry asked, drinking his water from the cup, ignoring the straw.

“Typical,” Sal answered. “I just got groceries, snuggled with my cat, the usual,” There was an awkward moment where he fumbled to unhook the bottom half of his prosthetic, trying his best to make the movement as natural as possible. Successful, he drank his water through the straw.

Larry thought it was cute.

“Working the night shifts are taking a toll on my body, dude,” Larry said. “I swear, I thought that it was gonna be fun, but honestly, I don’t think I can handle one more night,”

Sal studied the depth and darkness around the bottom of Larry’s eyes. “How do you do it? Working at nights?”

“I don’t,”

They both laughed.

Larry drank his water. “So, you liking your job so far?”

“Oh, yeah, definitely. I love it at St. Joseph’s, even though I have only, like, one friend there. He’s not even a nurse. He’s a medical intern which means he’s  _ extremely  _ busy and we barely have time to talk. Oh, and you know how they say ‘Nurses eat their young’? One-hundred-percent true. Good lord. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve asked an older nurse a question and the only response I got was some condescending bullshit. It’s unbelievable! And don’t even get me started on the Chief of Medicine there,” he inhaled. “Hoooly  _ shit, _ ” he laughed.

Larry swore that he could listen to him talk forever. “Sounds like fun, hehe,”

“Now how about  _ you? _ ” Sal sipped his water.

“I love it, despite the night shift that I told you about. I love my team, I love our station… I just love everything about it. I always get a rush when I get to save someone, but… there are certain cases that have… haunted me,” Larry’s demeanor became a little bit more awkward and distant.

Sal nodded. “Me too. Nothing could have ever prepared me for the horrors I’ve seen come to the ER. Especially the… the  _ children, _ ”

“God, the pediatric cases are the absolute worst,”

Before the conversation could get anymore dark, Maple returned with their food. “There ya go, boys! Sticks n’ fries, freshly made,”

“Oh, thank you, Maple. These smell  _ incredible, _ ” Larry commented.

“Thank you, Maple,”

“You two enjoy. If you need anything, just call me over,” Maple left with a smile.

Larry dug in, sticking a mozzarella stick into the marinara sauce and biting into it, the cheese stretching an abnormal length. The two of them laughed.

“Don’t choke!” Sal joked, scarfing down some fries dipped in ketchup.

“Don’t worry, I got it,” Larry comically attempted to stuff the cheese into his mouth, trying his hardest to contain his laughter. They both didn’t know what was so funny about the situation – maybe they were just awkward and laughing usually relieves the tension that comes with it. Maybe they genuinely enjoyed the time they were having. Or perhaps the sight of Larry pathetically trying to eat the mozzarella stick was just that funny.

Larry watched as Sal’s shoulders bounced up and down with each laugh, his blue hair joining with him. They both knew that they were enjoying each other’s company at that moment. The butterflies were swarming full force, cheeks and ears were red, hands were sweaty, hearts were beating – they thought that they could just kiss each other right then and there.

Moments of talking, eating, laughing, and sharing medical stories passed by and they were nearing the end of their stay. Their mozzarella sticks and fries were polished off clean, they chugged their glasses of water, and their faces hurt from smiling and laughing so much. Larry came down from a previous laughing fit and he sighed happily, placing his hands on the table.

“This was fun,” Larry said. “I had a really great time with you, Sal,”

“… I had fun, too,” Sal responded. “Probably the most fun I’ve had in a while which is… pretty sad when you look at it, haha,”

Their hands were weirdly close to each other on the table. Too close.

“I mean it when I said I had fun. You’re a good man, little dude,” Larry added.

Just as they were about to stand up to head out, they heard a pained groan coming from the bar. They both looked in the direction of the noise and saw Maple holding her head just in front of the bar, and before they knew it, she fell to the ground.

Sal and Larry both sprang from their seats and rushed to Maple’s aid, declaring their titles as people formed a circle around them.

Maple groaned as she held her head, trying to sit up.

“No, no, no, Maple, don’t move,” Sal ordered. “We need to get you to the hospital,”

“Ugh, guys, I’m fine, let me up–“

Before Maple could sit up, Larry laid her back down. “Don’t move, Maple, seriously,”

“You fell pretty hard. We even saw your head bounce. Just stay still until we can get an ambulance,”

Larry turned to Sal, a half-smile plastering across his face. “I guess my shift is starting early,”

Sal, once again, laughed at how genuinely great it was to be around Larry.

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so, school has started back up for me, and senioritis is at its all time high. i hope that my writing doesnt slow down more than it already has, but if it does, i apologize. i love this fic w all my heart and i want to finish it to its end and have more people fall in love w it just like me.  
> funnily enough im posting this chapter while in my medical terminology class LOLOL.  
> anyways ENJOY THE FLUFF in this chapter! however, it wont last long... dark times are upon us...


	5. Chapter 5

“Migraines?” Maple asked, confusion in her tone. “Just… migraines?”

Dr. Stacy Holmes, the head of trauma surgery, looked at her and nodded her head. “Your scans showed no signs of bleeding or anything alarming. They’re as clean as a whistle,”

“But… I passed out. I hit my head. And I’m just fine?”

“It’s not as crazy as it sounds, Maple. From how you described your pains, they were basically the textbook symptoms of a migraine. Your urine test always shows you are severely dehydrated. I’ll give you some fluids, prescribe you some painkillers, and then I can get you out of here. Any questions?” she smiled.

“N-No. No questions,” Maple responded.

“Okay. A nurse should be in here at any moment to give you fluids and get you back on track. I’m also gonna refer you to a neurologist so you can regularly keep up with the status of your migraines. Other than that, you’re pretty much done here,” she looked down at her clipboard and walked out of the room, leaving Maple, Sal, Todd, and Larry alone.

Maple sighed. “Thanks for helping me out, guys,” she said. “I seriously thought I was dying for a second there,”

Larry laughed. “Nope. You’re not dying, your brain just hates you,”

“Well, I hate her, too, and I’m dehydrated? I just drank water recently! Like…” her mind drew a blank as she tried to remember the last time she drank water. “Shit,”

“I’m surprised that you didn’t end up having a brain aneurysm the size of a golf ball,” Todd added, and Sal slapped his arm.

“Could you stop being a doctor for like, five minutes?” Sal scolded.

“We’re glad you’re okay, Maple,” Larry said, rubbing her shoulder. “It would’ve been a great loss if your little tumble turned out to be way more serious than it is,”

“I guess,” Maple shrugged her shoulders, her face downcast, almost sullen.

“What’s wrong, Maple?”

“Hospitals bum me out,” she finally said. “I don’t understand how you guys do it. Staying here for hours on end, even having to make this place your own for a while… how have you guys not been driven insane yet?”

“Because we’re numb to insanity,” Todd said.

“Wow, okay, edgelord,” Larry laughed, everyone joining in.

“I’m serious, though! I think I slept more in the on-call rooms than in my actual bed,” Todd shook his head. “Plus, it’s not like I _actually_ sleep,”

Sal raised his hand. “I can confirm,”

The laughter was cut short when Larry took a look at his phone and saw that his shift was starting sooner than he thought. “Shit!” Larry cursed, throwing on his jacket. “I’m sorry to bail so early, but I’ll literally be gutted if I showed up late… _again._ I’ll see you, dudes, later,” a collection of “see ya”s followed Larry out the door of the hospital and into the night.

When Maple was sure Larry was out of earshot, she turned to Sal. “He’s a cutie,”

Sal chuckled. “Eheh, yeah,”

“What? You don’t agree?”

“I mean, yeah, but, no, but... “ he was starting to trip over his words, then sighed. “He’s a good guy,”

“You guys would totally hit it off,” Todd added. “You two could hold so much _power,_ ”

Sal rolled his eye. “God, Todd,”

The sound of a pager beeping signaled it was time for Todd to depart from the party as well. “Oh, great, the big boss woman needs me. I must leave. Bye, guys,” he waved before walking off somewhere else. It was now just Maple and Sal in awkward silence.

“Larry’s great,” Maple said, finally breaking the silence. “I’ve known him since pretty much the first day I opened the bar. I’ve known you for three hours and I don’t doubt that you’re just as great as him,”

“He’s really fun to talk to,” Sal said. “I was gut-laughing the entire time, and he doesn’t seem to mind—” he gestured to his prosthetic. “—this,”

“Does it bother you when people ask about it?”

“A little,” Sal put his hands inside the pockets of his jeans. “It’s just all that people ask about, it seems. It’s tiring,”

“Yeah,”

There wasn’t much for them to talk about, as they were still merely but strangers to each other, and it was quite awkward for both of them. Maple, having a slight shyness, and Sal, fresh out of a date, made the situation almost unbearable.

“Hey, uh, are you gonna be okay on your own?” Sal asked. “I gotta get home and get some sleep. It’s getting late, heh,”

“Oh, yeah, sure! I’ll be fine, of course,”

Sal smiled under his prosthetic. “Take care, Maple,” he rubbed her arm and walked out of the building, making his way on home.

Todd took it upon himself to finally man up and confront Neil about his slip-up the day before, purposefully putting it off all day because one, he didn’t want to face his problems, and two, he didn’t want to face his problems. Each step closer to Neil’s room felt like each step closer to the principal’s office. He was not up to getting scolded at, especially if it was his fault.

Reluctantly, he opened the door and walked in, Neil’s eyes opening up to the feeling of Todd’s presence. He closed the door behind him and walked to sit next to his bed. “Hi, Neil…”

“Good evening, Dr. Morrison,” Neil’s voice was deep, sleepy, but positive — the exact opposite of what Todd was expecting. He even gave him a small smile.

“I just wanted to come in and check to see how you were doing post-op,” Todd’s eyes locked on the bandages over the incision site over Neil’s heart.

“I’m doing okay,” Neil responded. “Definitely better than right after I woke up from the anesthesia. The nurse gave me some morphine, though, so that helped, and it knocked me out again,” he laughed. “Who knew that surgery was so exhausting?”

“Trust me. I did a surgical rotation during med school. It was hell on Earth… actually, no, scratch that — the entirety of med school was hell on Earth,”

“But, you didn’t come in here to talk about med school, did ya?”

Todd’s smile fell and his stomach dropped. A tiny part of him hoped that Neil would have forgotten the kiss, but really, how could you forget your doctor kissing you out of the blue? You just don’t. “No, Neil, I didn’t,”

“I’m not mad, Dr. Morrison. Really, I’m not,”

“… But… but still, it was completely unprofessional,” Todd argued. “I’m a doctor. I have an M.D. I’m a medical intern. I can’t just go around kissing patients. I’m not even supposed to be… catching feelings…!”

“You have feelings for me?” Neil smirked, trying to joke to lighten the mood.

“Neil, I’m serious. If anyone were to find out what I did, I would be the laughing stock of this hospital. Of this _job._ All my credibility would be stripped away from me,”

“Well, then, try not to get caught,”

“You don’t understand!” Todd snapped. “The doctor-patient protocol strictly forbids relationships between both parties. I made a mistake and I came here to apologize so I can keep my job,” Todd stammered to find the next words. “I graduated top of my class: undergrad and med. I have received countless offers from dozens of residency programs from all over the country that I can’t count on both of my hands. I am well respected by my attendings and I intend to keep it that way! I can’t just let my career slip away from one—”

Todd was cut off when Neil pulled him in for a deep kiss, his hands grabbing the collar of his navy blue scrub top.

Todd did not protest.

Neil pulled away and Todd leaned forward a bit as if he wasn’t exactly done with kissing him. His eyes opened and he felt a rush of warmth flush his cheeks and the tops of his ears, but before he could say anything, Neil jutted in with:

“You still have your M.D.?”

Todd didn’t know how to respond. “… Y-Yeah,”

“Good, because I wanna do that over and over again with you, Todd,”

What the two men were doing was wrong. Completely unethical, but did Todd care? Not anymore. Instead, he agreed with Neil. His lips craved more attention. His heart yearned for affection. Didn’t matter their power positions.

“Me too, Neil,”

“How about after I get out of here, I take you out sometime?”

Todd just laughed. “I would love that,”

A few days had passed. A whole new work week starting again. Sal had been seeing Larry a bit during this time period — the two of them hitting it off really well. No one has admitted feelings yet, due to the fact that they were unsure of what they felt. Work and secrets kept getting in the way.

That day, Larry decided to visit Sal during work completely unexpected. Sal had no forewarning to Larry’s appearance, but he didn’t mind it one bit. He loved being around him.

They sat down at a table in the cafeteria, each with a tray of food differing from each other, and the same feeling of anxiousness that they felt on the first day they hung out.

“So, how’s your day been?” Larry asked, digging into his soup.

“Ah, ya know, it’s been uneventful,” Sal responded, opening his bottle of water. “Just a bunch of abdominal pains and chest pains, ya know. How about you?”

“Traumatizing, as always,” Larry laughed. “Kidding, kidding. Herman actually let Ash and I ride together alone. He said that we were finally ready to take on the world by ourselves,”

“Mmhm, and how’s that been goin’?”

“Chaotic, but Ash makes it fun,”

“You two make a good team. I don’t doubt you two do a good job,” Sal looked up and saw Todd coming their way and he waved him over. “Todd, come here!”

Todd took his spot next to Sal at the table, setting down his tray. “Hey, Sal. There’s a heart transplant going on in OR two at three o’clock, wanna come into the gallery and watch with me?”

“If it’s being performed by that _one_ surgeon, then count me out,” Sal chuckled, drinking his water.

Todd then noticed the new person at the table. “Oh, hey there! My name is Dr. Morrison, but just call me Todd,” he held out his hand for a handshake and Larry returned it.

“I’m Larry: paramedic,”

“Aw, look at my two friends,” Sal joked. “Meeting each other at last,”

“God, today has been horrible so far,” Todd dug into his salad. “I screwed up today at rounds, but guess what? It wasn’t my fault! It was led by the chief,”

Sal dramatically groaned. “I can’t stand him!”

“Gee, sounds like a swell guy,” Larry said.

“His name is Dr. Holmes, part-time chief, part-time husband, full-time asshole,”

“Holmes? As in Stacy Holmes?” Larry asked.

“Yep, America’s cutest couple,” Sal rolled his eye. “Luke is a sanctimonious, misogynistic, manipulative piece of shit who got chief through lying,” Sal gestured for Larry and Todd to come closer and lowered his voice. “Also, I heard that he beats Stacy and their daughter,” They all drew back.

“Good _God,_ ” Larry said with disgust. “That’s fucked up,”

“And I have to deal with him every day!” Todd said.

“Me too!” Sal stabbed into his salad. “Not as much as Todd, but still. He treats nurses like we’re fuckin’ nothing when we are the backbone of this hospital,”

“He hates interns as well. He’s supposed to be my teacher, and yet he’s nothing but a condescending douche,”

Larry laughed. “Man, wish I could join in with the insults,”

“Trust me, Larry, you don’t. As soon as this man enters your life, you’re done,” Sal shoved a fork full of lettuce into his mouth.

Todd’s pager beeped, and his soul left his body when he read it. “Speak of the Devil,” he angrily dropped his pager into his coat pocket. “The chief wants to see me,”

“Good luck, my man, nice seeing you,” Larry said.

“I’m not paying for your funeral,” Sal laughed.

Todd picked up his tray and stood up. “Time to die, my friends,” he walked off, throwing away his food and exiting the cafeteria.

Sal looked back at Larry sadly. “I have to go soon as well,” he stated. “Even though I’d much rather be sitting here with you,”

Larry had the urge to ask Sal a question but quickly repressed it as he felt that it was too soon. “Aw, really? But I was having so much fun,”

“I guess that’s the price I pay for being a trauma nurse, heh,” Sal drank his water. “But, hey, I’ll make sure that we can hang out soon, I promise,”

“Pinky promise?”

Sal let out a loud laugh. “Yes, yes, Larry — pinky promise,”

They intertwined their pinkies, their promise set in stone.

After lunch, Sal made his way down to the pit. On his way there, he passes up the waiting room lobby. He usually doesn’t give it much thought, but out of his peripherals, he spotted a head of yellow-blonde hair and brown skin. He had no choice but to back up and see it for himself.

Lo and behold, there he was: Travis Phelps.

Sal walked up to his chair, confused as ever. “Travis?”

When he heard Sal’s voice, he immediately popped up from his chair and walked over to him, his voice low. “Hey, uh, Sal. Can we talk?” he looked nervous.

“Travis, I’m working right now, I’m sorry—”

“Please!” he recoiled from the accidental snap. “Please, just… please,”

“… Okay,”

Sal picked an empty on-call room for the both of them to talk in, locking the door. Travis sat down on the small, firm bed, looking up at Sal.

“Okay, Travis, what do you need to tell me?”

Travis was silent for a while, not knowing how to make the words come out.

“I…” Travis stammered.

“C’mon, Travis, out with it, really,”

“I-If I tell you, you’ll hate me,”

Sal scoffed. “Travis, no. That’s absolutely not the case. Whatever was between us, that was years ago. The hatchet has been buried, it’s over,”

“… That’s exactly the reason I’m afraid to tell you,”

Sal’s eyes widened and his posture straightened. “Travis… what is it?”

Travis stood up, getting closer to Sal, his eyes darting his face to the floor. “I…”

Sal waited.

“… I’m in love with you, Sal,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINALLY AHHHH THIS CHAPTER WAS THE BANE OF MY EXISTENCE DLFHELAHQIELQEA  
> seriously i thought i was never gonna finish this thing. i got stuck so hard,,, i doubted if i was ever gonna be able to take this story into the direction i wanted. basically when i sit down and write these chapters, i have no idea whats gonna happen. i just let my natural writing take me where it wants to go. it's probably not a good process, but it's how i've always written.  
> im ngl im having a lot of writer's anxiety and doubts on if this story is good or not. i refuse to abandon it, though. abandonment is not the option.  
> hopefully my writing speed will get better as soon as things start to pick up, but i just wanna say thank u to the people who have read and left nice comments on this fic so far. ilu all <33  
> ALSO i made a tumblr!!!!! it's toskkabear and i basically made it so where i can talk to u all and see fanart and edits and all that good shit u guys make for this fic. u dont have to follow me but i'd love it if u did :)  
> happy reading!!!


	6. Chapter 6

Sal felt as if his brain wasn’t working that day, and his auditory nerves were shot because he could not believe the words that just came out of Travis’s mouth.

“T-… Travis?”

“I know,” Travis said in a low voice. “I knew you were gonna react this way.

Sal just shook his head. “You barely gave me time to react,”

“I have to go,” Travis began walking towards the door when Sal stopped him before he could reach the doorknob. “Sal, please—”

“You’re still in love with me?”

“Sal—“

“No, I wanna hear you say it,”

Travis went silent and shook his head. “No. I knew you were gonna flip out. Please open the door,”

Sal just stood there, staring Travis dead in the face. “What we had is gone. All the feelings I had for you are no longer. It was years ago…” he slowly opened the door. “I’ve moved on,”

Travis stayed put for a moment before leaving the room, but now without another final look into Sal’s eyes. He left without saying another word. Sal closed the door and pressed his back against it, craning his head upwards and sighing with stress.

When Neil fully recovered from surgery, he was admitted to inpatient psych where he would stay for six days with one-hour sessions with his psychiatrist every day. Todd made it his responsibility to make time in his schedule to visit him for at least half an hour for every day of his stay. His visits were pretty much the same each time with the both of them swooning over the other, asking how their days were, and promises for dates. Before Todd would leave, Neil would kiss the back of his hand for “good luck” and they would go on with the rest of their days.

This day wasn’t any different, except Neil looked a bit sickly – more than usual. The day had been long and the night was rapidly approaching. He was wincing and holding his chest, and when Todd would ask what was wrong, Neil would just brush it off and say it was normal recovery pains. Todd, being a doctor, was, of course, concerned it was something more, but Neil assured him that he was okay. Todd would nod and leave the subject be. Neil kissed the back of Todd’s hand and that was the end of it. Todd got on the elevator to go back down to the pit, running into Stacy, one of the surgical attendings.

“Hello, Dr. Holmes,” Todd greeted, politely, pushing the button with their floor number.

Stacy smiled. “Hello, Dr. Morrison,” she said.

There was an awkward silence between the intern and the attending. Todd kept flickering his eyes from the elevator doors to Stacy’s wrists as he thought he was seeing a few recent bruises. He did not want to ask questions as he knew that it was going to end badly for him, so he pushed it into the back of his mind.

“How was being the chief’s right-hand-man go?” Stacy asked.

“Um,” Todd cleared his throat. “It was… good. Good,”

“That’s good,”

Todd cringed at the silence.

“How’s, uh… your daughter?” Todd asked, immediately thinking it was a stupid question.

“Megan’s fine. She’s starting school soon which is making me a little nervous. She’s already miserable at the day-care down in the Peds wing,”

The elevator dinged and the door opened to their floor. Todd stepped out with relief and said, “I’m sure she’ll be fine,”

Stacy gave Todd a weird look as he left, stepping off as well.

Sal had just got off the phone with an oncoming ambulance when Todd approached him, telling him the details of the incoming trauma.

“We have a major MVC incoming,” Sal said. “Five car pile up. Paramedics said to prepare for worst case scenarios and get the ORs ready,”

“ _I’ll_ say when we should get the ORs ready,” Stacy said. “For now, it’s all hands on deck. We need everyone on the trauma team prepped and ready to go!”

Todd quickly threw on his trauma gown and rushed outside to catch the ambulances pulling into the drop-off. The first patient that came out was assigned to Todd: a man named CJ who appeared to be in his mid-twenties. All previous piercings that he wore were now ripped off and somewhere buried under the debris of the crash. He was barely conscious and his legs were twisted sickeningly in unnatural directions. From his head to his toe, there was not a patch of his body that wasn’t spattered with blood. Sal joined Todd’s side when CJ was rushed inside, triaging him to the first open trauma room.

Todd pressed the drum of his stethoscope to CJ’s heart. “Unequal breath sounds on the right side,” he draped his stethoscope back over his neck and pulled up CJ’s shirt, exposing a huge, deep bruise across the majority of his abdomen. The more Todd looked, the more bruises and possible fractures he saw on CJ’s body. “CJ?” Todd called, tapping CJ’s right knee. “Can you feel that?”

There was no response. The environment around him was hectic. There was so much screaming and crying and moaning. His patient was dying. It was probably already too late to save him from being a paraplegic.

“Someone get Dr. Holmes!” Todd yelled as he continued his work-up on CJ, and Sal raced out of the room to try and find Stacy, who was with another priority-one patient.

“Dr. Holmes!” Sal called out among the chaos. “We need you to come see this patient!”

“I’m busy!” Stacy responded, the monitor on her patient flatlining. She began compressions. “There are other attending surgeons! Get one! _Damnit,_ ”

Sal quickly threw away the slight panic that was starting to arise and made his way back to the trauma room with his patient.

That’s when he saw something that made his palms tingle and sweat.

It was Chug.

Sal jogged over to the Chug’s curtain to check out what the damage was. He was awake and alert, hunched over and holding his shoulder. His lip was split and bleeding, a nurse already working on cleaning the wound.

“Oh my God, Chug!” Sal cried.

“Ayyy, Sallyyy!” Chug greeted, almost too enthusiastically. He was accompanied by his father, who only looked to have sustained small bruising on his arm. “Fancy seeing you here! I mean, I knew you worked here, but golly, I totally forgot that you worked today even after seeing you this morning! Who knew?”

“Christ, Chug,” Sal brought his hand up to his forehead. “What happened? You okay?”

“I overestimated my driving skills and decided to take a spin on the freeway. Before I knew it I was squeezing the brake to death, and then I hit something, and now my shoulder hurts,”

Sal sighed and shook his head. “God, dude… scared the shit out of me,” he got closer and took a look at Chug’s shoulder. “Looks like it’s dislocated. One of the jocks are gonna come here and snap it back into place,”

“Jocks?” Chug asked, a look of pure confusion on his face.

“… An orthopedist,” Sal clarified. “A bone doctor,”

“Is it gonna hurt, Sal?”

“Just for a second,”

“ _Sal!_ ” Todd yelled from the trauma room. “He’s coding! We need an OR _now!_ ”

Sal ran back to the room, looking at the heart monitor to see CJ’s sinus rhythm become bradycardic. He shot his gaze back to Todd. “Dr. Holmes is occupied. You need to page every surgical resident and attending who’s free,”

“Come and start CPR,” Todd ordered. “We’re getting this man an OR no matter what,”

Sal didn’t hesitate to rush over to CJ’s side and began compressions, muttering under his breath for CJ to fight, and to “not go near the light”. He looked up and saw Todd rush out of the room and into the chaos of the ER, hoping to whoever was upstairs to bring back a surgeon sometime soon.

Todd ran over and caught up with Stacy just as she was carting away a patient, emergent and out of breath. “Dr. Holmes — we need someone to do surgery on our patient. He’ll die if we don’t get him into an OR!”

“What’s the main concern?”

“… Huh?”

“I said, what’s your main concern with the patient?”

Todd wanted to blurt out and say “everything”, but he thought for a moment and came out with, “The patient doesn’t seem to have any feelings in his legs. We did an ultrasound and found internal bleeding in his abdomen. He’s bradycardic and Nurse Fisher is doing compressions on him at the moment,”

Stacy thought for a moment. “… Page general surgery. Take care of the bleeding first, then move on to neuro,” Before Todd could say anything else, Stacy was already gone with her patient. Todd whipped out his pager and paged every general surgery attending and resident in the building to come help with CJ. Time was running out. Todd feared that it might already be too late. He ran back into the trauma room where Sal’s arms were already becoming a bit sore from the repetitive, constant motions.

“I’ll take over,” Todd announced. Sal moved to the side for Todd to take his place. “I paged general surgery. We’re gonna take care of the bleeding before we move on to saving him from leg paralysis. I’ll take it from here. There are plenty more people out there who need saving,”

“You sure?” Sal asked, unsure.

“Go, Sal!”

Sal stood there for a moment, a hesitation, before exiting the trauma room into the pit. There, he was greeted by a wet Ashley carrying an unconscious little girl in her arms. She was out of breath and frantic like she had been running forever.

“We need some help here!” Ash yelled, a doctor running over to her to help. “We found her under the pile-up. She must have been down for a while,”

Sal rushed over to help as well, taking the girl into his arms. “Do we know her name? Any of her family?”

“I don’t know,” Ash responded. Sal took her to an empty curtain and laid her on the bed. “We hardly know anything about her. We just found her unconscious in the field,”

“We have to find her family,” Sal said. “Her parents are probably worried sick—”

“ _Hey!_ ” A loud, booming voice came from across the room. Sal followed the sound to a large, tall man who did not look friendly in the slightest. He must have been at least over six-foot-five, and he towered over Sal as he approached him. Pissed. “Get your hands off my daughter!”

“Sir, please, just let me do my job—” Sal gasped with fear when the man grabbed Sal’s wrists, the strength almost crushing the bones underneath. He clamped his jaw shut tight with pain.

“I dunno who the fuck you think you are but no masked freak like you is going to touch my daughter!”

“Ow…” Sal whimpered, trying to pull away. He cowered and looked away from the hateful, angry look on the father’s face. Ash and the doctor tried their best to pull the man away from Sal, but he was just too strong and too angry. “Let me go!”

“How can they let people like you become nurses, huh? You’re probably not even licensed, piece of shit!”

As if he came out of nowhere, Larry appeared and helped with pulling the man off of Sal. He was most likely the extra force they needed because, after a few extra tugs, the man was finally off of him.

“Touch him again and we’re calling the cops!” Larry threatened.

“Might wanna save the time on him because I don’t think he’s legit! You have a creeper!” The man screamed back.

“My NCLEX score and BSN say otherwise!” Sal spat. The man wasted no time before charging towards Sal and socking him right in the jaw, making Sal tumble to the ground. Immediately, a hoard of staff came and took the man away. Ash took out her phone and dialed 9-1-1 as Larry rushed to Sal’s aide, helping him to his feet.

“Okay, easy, easy…” Larry’s touch and words were gentle and comforting, hooking an arm around his waist and took him outside away from the chaos. Sal slumped against the smooth wall of the building and slid down onto the concrete. Larry joined him on the ground. “You okay?”

Sal was silent for a moment. “Not really…” he hesitated before holding his wrists out in front of him, deep bruises already starting to form. “ _Shit,_ ” he whispered, and a pain shocked through his jaw where the man hit him. He hissed and brought his hand up to aide his injury.

“That man had no business talking to you like that,” Larry stated. “You were doing your job. You were trying to save that little girl’s life, and her father had the audacity to—” he forced himself to stop before he got any angrier than he already was.

“This probably won’t be the worst thing that will ever happen to me,” he scoffed, shaking his head. “I have the entire rest of my career for shitty things to occur,” he picked at the skin around his fingernails.

“… Yeah,” Larry said. “I feel the same way. That’s just… the harsh truth about our jobs,”

“Yep…”

A silence fell upon the two men, thinking of what to say next.

“My dad was… hesitant when I told him that I wanted to be a nursing major,” Sal finally said. “Ya know, considering that I am no stranger to nurses and doctors and medicine and surgery and…” he let his voice trail off.

“… My mom wasn’t too happy when I said that I wanted to be a paramedic,” Larry added. “She’s always been so protective and kept me under her wings. She told me how it was a dangerous job and that I could die, but… I love it. I love my job,”

Sal sighed. “I love my job, too,”

The two turned their heads so they were looking straight at each other. The commotion from inside seemed to muffle and quiet as Sal and Larry studied each other’s faces, their eyes nervously shifting from the other’s face to the ground and back.

Sal and Larry never really made themselves “official” because they didn’t know what to make “official”. To each other, they were friends, but to themselves, there was a tiny bit of something more that they were just too afraid to admit. They nervously shifted themselves on the ground and unconsciously became closer to one another.

Something about this situation seemed wrong.

Something about this situation seemed too fast.

“My jaw still hurts,” Sal said, and Larry didn’t think twice before slowly taking his hand and cupping the injured area.

“Doesn’t feel broken,” Larry replied with a small smile.

Sal chuckled. “That’s… that’s good,”

 _Back away now,_ they both thought in unison, although the feelings were obvious by now. They had to wait before making that commitment to one another. The juxtaposing work schedules, the tiredness after shifts, the privacy they kept.

But, fuck, they could both admit that the feelings felt too damn good.

It took every fiber of Larry’s being to not unbuckle Sal’s prosthetic and kiss the lips he hid underneath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so the plot is now starting to pick up finally so updates might start to speed up depending on where im gonna take the story.  
> thank u all so much for the continued support and love on this fic - it really means a lot. <3


	7. Chapter 7

If there was anything that could take Sal’s mind off of bullshit, it was breaking some bones.

Or, watching them get put back into place to be more realistic.

The look on Chug’s face when the orthopedist snapped his shoulder back into the right place made Sal use all the energy he had to not burst out in laughter, having to let out a snort or two to fully be satisfied. Chug could tell, even behind the prosthetic, that Sal was heavily amused by his pain.

“Not cool!” Chug said, rubbing his shoulder. “That shirt hurt. A lot,”

“It only hurt for a second!” Sal responded.

Chug rolled his eyes and laid back in his bed. “When do I get out of here?”

“We’re packed so there’s no telling,”

“Gee, that’s great. I _looove_ hospitals,”

“It’s not our fault that we’re a level one trauma center,”

“Couldn’t you guys have settled for level two?”

Sal chuckled, tightening his messy blue bun. “That’s not how that works, buddy,”

Sal could tell by the look in Chug’s eyes that he was in a great amount of discomfort and embarrassment. The accident was far from being Chug’s fault, but his pride must’ve been ripped to shreds as he only held a permit and got himself into a messy pile-up. Being surrounded by so much gore is something that Sal was used to, but Chug was in an unfamiliar environment, so the death and the screaming and the crying could scar anyone for life if they don’t become desensitized.

Sal had been desensitized for all his life.

No parent could ever prepare a child for such absurdities to occur at such an awfully young age. No adult could ever prepare a child to go through copious amounts of trauma after such a short amount of time of being alive. Sal taught himself that what he went through was not normal. He taught himself that the hell he crawled through was just under the Devil’s nose, and he barely made it out alive by having to pay the permanent scarring and disfigurements that would be with him for the rest of his life.

When you go into a medical specialty such as trauma, you already have a predisposed notion that you’re going to see some shit that you thought only appeared in nightmares. But you’re not really taught how to leave the trauma at work and not bring it home with you. That’s the first mistake that many trauma specialists make so early in their careers.

And one of the reasons why the suicide rate for nurses is too damn high.

Sal witnessed it firsthand. Fresh out of nursing school, first week on the job — one of the other ER nurses committed suicide just a few days after Sal started working at St. Joseph’s. It was a really weird environment as one: Sal barely knew the woman, and two: being around so much emotional tension so early into the job was enough to throw someone off. He paid his respects, of course, but it still threw off the work atmosphere from that day to the current day.

But Sal was smart enough to let the trauma stay at work. That’s what he had been told his entire life. He was “too smart” for this, “too smart” for that. Too smart.

Too smart to be just a nurse.

Too smart to not think about going back to school to become a nurse practitioner.

Too smart to fall in love so young.

Too smart to let his depression and PTSD get in the way of his work.

Too.

Smart.

The lines between a strong mental state and weak one have been blurred for Sal ever since his mother and body were ripped away from him. There was no way to teach him where the line ended and where it began. It was nothing but an incomprehensible mess that Sal had to gamble on for the rest of his life.

CJ was now in surgery in hopes of saving him and his legs, but things weren’t looking so good. The little girl that Sal almost got beat up over was now awake and hanging on. Larry was long gone with Ash which made him feel a type of loneliness he didn’t expect. He looked at the time on his computer. His shift was close to being over, and he could put this day behind him.

It wasn’t a good day for Sal.

He let his mind drift off and he started to think of Larry and the little “dates” they went on in the past week. At this point, he was far from being opposed to the idea of a relationship with Larry. But he couldn’t help but feel that there was this weird barrier that was between them still. Too many secrets were locked and kept away from each other. Sal didn’t understand why this barrier felt weird as he was always sort of a private person when it came to extremely personal stuff, and he didn’t doubt Larry was the same way. But still, he just wanted to look him in the eye and spill everything that was built up inside of him.

But no.

Not yet.

He wanted to be with Larry. Everyone wanted him to be with Larry. Todd, the other nurses, Chug — they were rooting for the two of them. Sal didn’t want to sleep on the idea any longer. The next time Larry and Ash come through the doors of the ER was when Sal was going to confess his feelings and hope to whatever higher being there was that his feelings would be reciprocated. He felt ready to love someone, even if there was another variable that did not want him to love another.

Sal didn’t care.

As the dark streets of the city lay ahead of the ambulance, Larry and Ash talked away about the previous case and how much of an adrenaline rush it was. Ash was bouncing up and down in the front seat going on and on how she felt like a superhero dragging those people out their cars and rushing them to St. Joseph’s. She was on a high that didn’t show signs of ever coming down. Larry felt the same, but since he was driving, he couldn’t convey it with the same energy Ash was.

“Just, watching the FD pry open that woman’s car like it was nothing, and me going in and dragging her out was just— ah!” Ash rambled excitedly. “I swear to you, Lar, that I have never felt so heroic in my life than I did at that moment. I felt like Superman, or Mr. Incredible, or, or… who cares! I was a superhero!”

“Hell yeah, you were!” Larry responded.

“It was fucking crazy! And when we got there and Sal almost got manhandled by that one dude? Holy shit!” Ash’s legs were swinging and flailing everywhere like a child. “God, it’s nights like these that make the job worth it, ya know?”

Larry’s excitement died down a significant amount when Ash mentioned the Sal altercation, and she noticed it and immediately apologized. Larry waved it off, saying that it was fine, but Ash insisted.

“No, no, really — I’m sorry,” Ash apologized.

“Why are you sorry, Ash?” Larry asked. “It’s not like I’m in love with him and he could’ve died,”

“Yeah, but, still. You like him. And he got hurt. And that’s a shitty thing to witness,”

“Yeah…” Larry sighed. “It’s just, that guy handled him like Sal was nothing but a defenseless kitten. Throwing him around and calling him horrible names. It just… ugh! It makes me so fuckin’ angry,” He shook his head, pausing. “I… I really, _really_ like him, Ash,”

“Then tell him, Lar,”

“I can’t just do that, Ash,”

“You can and you will. Look, next time we have to go to St. Joseph’s, you can just casually go up to him, be like: ‘Yo, you like dudes?’ And then bam! Next thing you know you two are making sweet love in his apartment and you’re married with two adopted kids from some remote Eastern European country that’s hard to pronounce,” she threw her hands up. “It sounds like I’m joking but I’m not,”

“I believe ya,”

“… Oh, c’mon, Lar,” Ash put a comforting hand on Larry’s shoulder. “Moments ago you were hyped and upbeat. Now you’re just… I dunno,”

“Have I told you the story of when my mother found out that I wanted to be a paramedic?”

“N-No, I don’t think so,”

Larry scratched the side of his neck. “It was about a couple of weeks after I graduated from high school,” he began. “My mother had a health scare and had to be transported to the hospital by ambulance. It was… fuckin’ scary. I had to call 911 myself. I thought she was gonna die…” he paused. “The day after she was discharged from the hospital, that’s when I told her that I wanted to be a paramedic,”

“What’d she say?”

“… She was… silent,” he said. “Then she shook her head and said: ‘Absolutely not. My bebé niño will not have such a dangerous job.’ We argued for a bit. I’ll never forget the look in her eyes. She was… _terrified._ She was so insistent that I not become a paramedic. But…” he shook his head. “I did anyway,”

“Is she okay with it now?”

“Not in the slightest,” Larry answered. “She calls me every day just to make sure I’m not hurt or dead. She’s so afraid that I’m gonna die on the job. And to that I say… what if I _do_ die on the job? Would it make any difference as opposed to dying of old age?”

“Larry, you can’t think that way,” Ash said.

“Think what way?”

“That your death would be so-so. Our job is crazy dangerous. _Incredibly_ dangerous. But we can’t wake up each morning thinking that today’s the day where I get killed. That’s what Lisa is constantly afraid of. She can’t know that this is your mindset about this job. Her heart would break,”

“Do you really think that I’m just gonna call my mom one day and be like: ‘Hey mom, I live in a constant state of nihilism where I’m free to the idea of dying on the job because I don’t think it would matter to anyone.’ No,”

“That’s not what I’m saying,”

“Ash,” Larry interjected. “This is gonna be my job for the rest of my life — I already know that. I’m a dead man either way,”

“If you’re dying then I’m dying,”

“Good. It’s settled,” he chuckled. “You know that I don’t go down without a fight. I signed a death warrant when I graduated from paramedic training and got the job. You did too,”

“We all did,”

Larry grabbed Ash’s hand. “We’re in this together. We’re in for the long run,”

Ash chuckled, taking her hand away. “Now you’re just being cheesy,”

The ambulance radio crackled to life, signaling a call was about to come through from Base. Larry shot Ash a quick, smug look. “Time to save some lives,”

The next day came by.

The night shift started off with a bang.

Larry and Ash nearly fell over their feet when their ambulance arrived with a squeal at a park that housed a grizzly, grotesque, haunting sight. They quickly grabbed their bags and jogged over to the child lying twitching on the ground with his mother screaming and sobbing at his head.

The child’s face was mauled to shreds.

Larry could have vomited.

Ash beat Larry to the child’s side as she checked for a pulse which was erratic and unequal. Larry knew that it was no use getting information from the mother, so he went to the father to get the story.

“He just fuckin’ waddled up to the damn dog and the next thing I know he was on the ground screaming his fuckin’ head off while that beast chewed at his fuckin’ face!” the father yelled, trembling with red-hot anger.

“Sir, I need for you to remain calm—”

“ _Calm?!_ Don’t tell me to—” he gave Larry a hard shove. “—remain fuckin’ calm!” The mother’s wails only grew louder, making the father angrier. “ _Shut the fuck up!_ ”

“Larry, we’re out of here!” Ash called out, already having the child strapped to the stretcher. The mother followed them onto the ambulance with Ash in the back and Larry driving, the sirens and lights on full blast. The father followed behind them. The sound of the mother’s cries sent chills down Larry’s spine.

“Oh, god! My baby! My baby!” the mother cried. “Oh, god, oh, god, oh, god…!”

Ash tried everything in her favor to calm the mother down while simultaneously doing a work-up on the injured child, while Larry floored it down the streets of Nockfell to get to St. Joseph’s before the child bled out and died en route.

They arrived with a pair of doctors awaiting in trauma gowns and take the child into their care. Larry jumped out the ambulance and opened up the back doors of the truck, carefully rolling the stretcher out and into the building. Sal was tending to another patient when the child came in.

“Five-year-old male with severe lacerations to the face as a result of a dog mauling,”

Dog mauling.

It was as if every sound that Sal could hear became muffled; like he was suddenly submerged underwater and could only hear the water currents and bubbles encasing his body. He turned to look at the child who just came in. He froze.

Completely froze.

Larry looked up from the chaos and his eyes immediately landed on Sal and he smiled at the sight of him. He was completely blind to the absolute horror that was plastered across Sal’s face as a result of the prosthetic. He had no idea of the horror racing through Sal’s mind.

So when he walked up to greet him, he wasn’t expecting the response he was in for.

When Larry stretched his hand to reach out to him, Sal swatted it away without hesitation. The stinging came right away, and Larry couldn’t understand why Sal would do that.

“Dude, what the h—”

Sal’s hyperventilation cut him off. Larry knew exactly what was going on. Sal started to mumble to try to explain himself, but all that came out were incoherent syllables and vowels that made Sal panic even more. He felt himself shutting down. Sweat came through in waves. His bones ached. His fingers tingled. The lights of the ER were ten-times brighter than they were before. As much as Sal tried to fight back, Larry took him to an empty part of the hospital away from the chaos and instructed him to breathe.

“You’re okay, Sal. You’re hyperventilating. Just breathe,”

“ _I can’t!_ Oh, god, I can’t! Fuck!”

“Sal! Sal, look at me. Focus on me,”

Sal’s eye traveled upwards to meet Larry’s soft, inviting brown ones, trying his hardest to let himself listen to him.

“Breathe. Slow, deep,”

“Fuck, fuck, oh, god…” Sal swallowed hard, his body folding in on itself as he caught himself on his knees. His breaths came out as wheezes.

“You’re okay, you’re okay. Breathe,” he watched as Sal’s shoulders moved up and down with each loud breath, the strands from his messy bun pointing downwards at the floor. Sal brought his hands and rested them on the back of his neck, allowing himself to breathe more easily. “It’s okay…”

When Sal finally caught his breath, he stood up straight and looked up at Larry, tears pouring from his eyes. When the panic washed away, in came humiliation. He felt so, so small.

So, so pathetic.

He was “too smart” to let anyone see him like this.

“Oh, god, Larry…” Sal’s voice trembled with embarrassement, and all Larry wanted to do was hold him.

He got his wish as Sal flung himself into Larry’s arms as he sobbed into his uniform. For a split second, he was taken aback before wrapping his arms around Sal’s small body.

“I’m so sorry you had to see that,” Sal apologized, his voice small.

“Shh, don’t be sorry, Sal,” Larry assured, rubbing his back. “You don’t have to talk to me about it. I’ll just be right here… holding you…” he felt Sal’s fingers grip the back of Larry’s shirt, making him hold on to him just a little bit tighter.

He looked up for a moment and he could’ve sworn he saw someone staring at them. But he shrugged it off and looked back down at Sal’s blue head buried in his chest. So many questions ran through his mind.

What made Sal freak out so badly?

The thought burned his brain.

He wanted to know all of Sal’s secrets.

They held each other for another few moments before Sal slowly pulled himself out of Larry’s grasp, sniffling and reaching under his prosthetic to wipe his tears away.

“You okay?” Larry asked.

Sal nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine,”

“You sure?”

“Yeah. I just need to collect myself for a moment and then, uh… get back to work,”

As if he were vomiting, Larry couldn’t hold it in any longer, and he spat out his words. “I like you,”

Sal looked up at him, clearly confused. “Huh?”

Before Larry could elaborate, the PA system went off, signaling a code blue in the psych department and he could hear a crowd of doctors and nurses rushing to that specific end of the hospital.

Including Todd, which confused the hell out of Sal.

They were already wheeling the patient out of his room when Todd arrived to help, hoping to have his fears disproven. He already knew that Neil looked a lot sicker than usual, despite him assuring Todd that he was fine.

His heart fell to his stomach at what he saw.

Neil was being rushed to the OR with an intubation tube down his throat and bags of fluids hooked up to his arms.

Todd suspected the worst.

Neil was having a deadly embolism.

He was close to dying.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i apologize for the wait! school has been burning me out and making me feel like shit, completely draining me of all motivation to write. but here we are! chapter 7 is finally here! thank u all for the continued support and nice comments that u all have been giving me and im sorry that i dont reply!! if youre interested, my tumblr, toskkabear, is always open <3

**Author's Note:**

> ahhh and THERE WE GO !!!! chapter 1 is done and im SO EXCITED for this fic. hopefully this'll gain traction as the story goes on and more people can become engaged with this fic just as much as i am at the moment :')  
> just as a little foreword(?) you are welcome to translate this fic as long as you ask my permission and source to the original work (right here!). i am also of course open to any fanart as that would just brighten my day <3333  
> anyways i....... guess thats it? lol if u have any questions feel free to ask! <3


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